Emerald Spire 02.0 - Questionable Progress
Approaching the glen carefully, Marin and Kormon decided to gingerly investigate the front of the ruins that lay before them. Skirting around from the south-facing wall in front of them, marked by a gaping hole, they noticed what might be a footpath leading up the grassy hillside towards the damaged wall. However, they also caught sight of a sentry: a goblin sitting astride a monstrously-sized rat-like creature, lazily staring into space as its mount shuffled about, entertaining itself. The pair moved towards what must have been, at one time, the front entrance: the doors were long since gone, and a pile of rubble cascading down an embankment was all that was left of the stairs leading to the ruined arches of the doorway. Considering their options, they decided that the ancient doorway was likely safer: they knew the other door was guarded. Kormon handily scaled the craggy embankment, though Marin had significantly more troubles. Even after being tossed a rope from above, the entertainer had to try a few times before he made it up to solid footing. Once inside the threshold, they discovered that, though there didn't appear to be any goblins, the interior of the ruins were pitch-black. Despite the fact that neither man could see, they opted to go forwards without a light source, hoping to avoid the attention of any other goblins that might be crawling in the darkness. Trusting in the accuracy of the map that Nicolette had given Marin, they plotted a direct route to what they thought were the stairs down, and aimed to run there as quickly and silently as possible, feeling their way along the walls. With Kormon holding an unlit torch as a backup plan, the pair lurched forwards into the unknown. Stumbling over strewn rubble, the pair made their way unhampered to the door they were looking for. As they felt around, they could hear something muttering and chuckling to itself further down the corridor, and the sounds of two goblins jeering at each other could be made out through the heavy door. With great care, they opened it slightly; by what little dim light managed to peek through cracks in the glassy ceiling, they could make out a pair of goblins playing "catch"; they were taking turns violently hurling a rock at each other while trying to avoid being struck. Deciding that there was nothing for it, Marin and Kormon pushed the door in and attacked, taking the two goblins unawares. The battle was short and ended in the mens' favor, but a third goblin ran in from the side corridor; when it saw what was happening, it turned and bolted, raising an alarm. The men cursed and retreated into the stairwell, closing the door behind them while they planned their next course of action. Deciding that the element of surprise was gone, Kormon lit his torch. Unfortunately, he quickly discovered that there was something strange: it was as though the walls absorbed light, and the fire made it no easier to see than before. Frustrated, he doused the light and stashed his torch, seeing as how it gave no assistance. Meanwhile, Marin investigated the wall in front of them. The crystalline pillar before them, around which a spiraling staircase descended to their right, did not appear to match the rest of the ruined green walls. While the rubble all seemed to be tempered glass, this was more firm, a mineral, and it seemed to glow softly. A strange runic shape was carved slightly higher than eye-level into the surface of the crystal, but neither of the men had any sort arcane training and could not fathom its purpose. Debating whether it was safer to go down or to stay and fight, a loud bang broke the silence. With a crash, something large pushed in the door and entered the room. It was a humanoid construct, apparently made of green crystal and mechanized devices, though it was damaged and ramshackle: a crude face had been painted on its featureless head, and a rotting human arm had been nailed onto its left shoulder to replace its own missing limb. A screechy goblin voice called out from the hallway, telling the others to stay back and let "Clanky" deal with the intruders; other goblins cheered in the distance, hoping for the robot's victory. Kormon and Marin took up battle positions, but soon discovered that they were out-powered by their mechanical foe; it attacked stiffly, punching with its one good arm despite the fact that it clutched a weapon, and its blows hit hard and true. Worse yet, the screechy commanding voice kept calling out, casting spells from a safe distance. Marin attempted to hold Clanky in a grapple, but was solidly struck for his efforts; the blow laid him unconscious. Fearing for Marin's life, as well as his own, Kormon decided that retreat was their only option. He scooped up the fainted man from where he lay at Clanky's feet and ran down the stairs. Luckily, it seemed that the lumbering robot wouldn't, or couldn't, follow them. Taking the stairs down, Kormon stopped suddenly when a pair of very obviously dead, yet still standing and moving, goblins blocked his path as they loitered on a landing. Smelling the live flesh nearby, they turned and began to assault Kormon. The warrior managed to make short work of the zombies with several powerful swings of his axe, and he quickly scattered and destroyed their remains lest they somehow stand once more. With the landing seemingly secure, Kormon turned his attentions to his companion and his wounds, doing what very little he could do to at least make the man more comfortable. Time passed in the darkness, but nothing disturbed Kormon as he rested on the stairs. Eventually, Marin came to, groggy and sore. When he was feeling stable enough, he sat up and the two considered their fate. Kormon crept up the stairs cautiously, and confirmed that the construct Clanky was still standing there, waiting tirelessly for the intruders. Resigned, the two eventually decided to press on further, hoping that whatever was further down would be less deadly than the robot. The stairs curved for a few more spirals before straightening, taking them away from the faint glow of the verdant crystal. The glass walls were replaced by plain stone panels, and the pair found with some relief that their torchlight was no longer dampened. At the end of the stairs, they found a hallway dimly lit by some variety of phosphorescent moss, apparently growing off of a fine dust that had accumulated in cracks and corners. An abandoned torch lay on the ground in a small alcove; picking it up and stowing it in his belt, Kormon walked forwards, leading the way while the grievously injured Marin followed. Opening a plain door fashioned from a stone slab, the pair was met with another hallway. Taking a left turn down the branching path, they opened another door and found a chilling sight: some sort of lab or apothecary had been set up, where several long-dead corpses had been dissected on a long, cluttered table alongside the remains of what appeared to have been a gigantic spider, easily the size of a pony. The gigantic crystal from the staircase was visible in the corner of this room, giving off its gentle glow. As they moved forwards to investigate the room, they paused: the floor was uneven, and it appeared that a large section of the central floor was a pressure plate. Avoiding it by sticking to the walls, the pair moved into the lab. Marin noticed another carved sigil in the crystal, strikingly similar to the one he had found earlier; Kormon found some arcane scrolls and what appeared to be potions sitting amid the clutter on the desk, as well as a key that appeared to have been dropped and forgotten beneath a bucket of congealed blood. Disturbed about what sort of being down here would make such a lair, and certain that whatever twisted wizard it was would be much more dangerous than Clanky, the two made to move cautiously forwards. Spying an irregularity in the walls, they discovered that the room had not one, but two hidden entrances; one led right back to the alcove in the first room, separated by only a small closet. Rather than take the second hidden entrance, they decided to instead investigate the rooms to the south from the original hallway. Finding yet another hallway, they discovered two rooms: one held a ladder leading down into a pit, but the air was thick with spiderwebs, where Marin spotted another enormous spider hiding in wait near the ceiling; the other room contained what looked to be huge egg sacs, and thousands of fist-sized baby spiders crawled about on every surface. The doors to both rooms were closed almost as soon as they were opened, the men deciding that the clear and obvious danger wasn't worth their weary, weakened efforts. Worn out, the two argued about what they should do. The longer they poked about down here, the more likely it was that they would be attacked by spiders, apparently, or be found out by whatever had been conducting experiments near the crystal; going back meant facing Clanky, as well as innumerable goblins, at least one of which was a mage. Holing up in a corner to sleep in order to regain some strength seemed like a dangerous plan itself, leaving them with few options. Finally, Marin decided to try what Kormon refused: they returned to the hidden, defensible closet connecting the lab to the foyer, and the entertainer drank one of the two vials of liquid they had collected from the cluttered table. In a stroke of pure luck, the potion turned out to indeed be a healing draught, and Marin found his vitality restored. Feeling much better about their chances, the two men agreed to return to the top floor and make a mad dash for it. Clanky stood watch at the top of the stairs, motionless. On their count, the men bolted; Clanky took a swing at Kormon but missed, letting Marin slip by as well. Running through the darkness and rubble, groping along the side of the wall, they could hear goblins yelling out an alarm around them. Without pause or delay, they shot out into the late afternoon light and slid down the embankment, pursued by two goblins riding their rat-dogs. Marin stumbled upon landing, twisting his ankle slightly, and the two guards began to fire on them with their crossbows while their mounts lunged forwards. One of the riders, however, fumbled his shot so poorly that he became unbalanced and fell off his mount; the feral creature began to wrestle around with its rider, struggling to get his foot untangled from the ramshackle excuse for a saddle he used. The other goblin shot true, and the loss of blood knocked Kormon unconscious. Refusing to die here, Marin grabbed his unconscious companion, as he had done for him earlier that day, and made a dash for the treeline, hoping that the goblins wouldn't follow. The rider pursued, firing bolts at him from his crossbow, but the stinging bits of metal did not manage to fell Marin before he made it to the trees, whereupon the rider turned back, shouting his own glory and success at routing the intruder. Stumbling, barely clinging to consciousness, Marin crawled away, dragging Kormon, until he was sure he wasn't being followed. When he was reasonably sure of their safety, Marin paused to regain his breath and to let his twisted ankle rest long enough to feel more stable. Kormon managed to regain consciousness, but both men were still seriously injured. Slowly and painfully, they made it back to Fort Inevitable before nightfall. Going to the local church, they were quickly rushed to the infirmary for rest and treatment. Marin, much less seriously harmed thanks to the potion he had drank earlier, learned from the medic that the church did not actually possess any clerics or other mages; all those who had magical talent had been drafted by the Adamantine Order some years ago, and they all lived and worked inside their barracks, their talents by law no longer used for the common folk. Marin spent the night in the infirmary, regaining his strength; Kormon needed three nights of strict bed rest before the medics would give him a clean bill of health. Category:Emerald Spire